The Duties of the Comptroller

Scott M. Stringer is the Comptroller of the City of New York, the City’s Chief Financial Officer, responsible for providing an independent voice to safeguard the fiscal health of the City, root out waste, fraud and abuse in City government and ensure the effective performance of City agencies to achieve their goals of serving the needs of all New Yorkers.

As Comptroller, Scott’s responsibilities include conducting performance and financial audits of all City agencies; serving as a fiduciary to the City’s five public pension funds totaling nearly $160 billion in assets; providing comprehensive oversight of the City’s budget and fiscal condition; reviewing City contracts for integrity, accountability and fiscal compliance; managing the fair, efficient and effective resolution of claims; ensuring transparency and accountability in the prevailing wage rate-setting process and vigorously enforcing prevailing wage and living wage laws; and promoting innovative policies that enhance City government’s efficiency, integrity and performance for all New Yorkers.

Scott brings a 20-year record of innovation, independence, and integrity to the Comptroller’s Office. By conducting performance audits of every City agency, strengthening the sustainability of the City’s pensions and overseeing the fiscal and budget health of the City, Scott will ensure that every tax dollar is being invested in programs that provide deliverable returns to all New Yorkers and help to create jobs and boost our economy.

Scott believes that the success of New York City’s economy is best measured by how the economy works to nurture a middle class that has long been the backbone of communities throughout the five boroughs. As Comptroller, Scott will work to ensure that our City government and our economy lifts up all New Yorkers and gives everyone an equal opportunity to succeed.

Scott believes it is the Comptroller’s duty to make every dollar count—whether it’s put to work in our classrooms, hospitals, parks, or streets—and to maximize the economic impact of our City’s investments on our quality of life and economic growth.

Scott leads a staff of 760 employees—accountants, attorneys, computer analysts, economists, engineers, budget, financial and investment analysts, claim specialists and researchers, clerical and administrative support staff—who work together every day to accomplish an array of tasks on behalf of the communities of New York City. Scott will work hard to achieve this through the many critical functions of the Comptroller’s Office:

The Duties and Goals of the Comptroller

As Comptroller, Scott conducts performance and financial audits of every City agency to make sure taxpayer dollars are being used effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of all New Yorkers. As the Chief Auditor of the City, Scott maximizes the diverse expertise of the Comptroller’s Office to improve the operations and performance of City government and enable City programs to meet their goals such as developing affordable housing, delivering quality public education, ensuring access to public benefits, providing preventative homeless services and protecting the rights of individuals and communities.

Scott ensures accountability, transparency and fiscal compliance in City contracts. As Comptroller he checks each contract to make sure the City has enough money to pay its bill and that corruption has not tainted the award process or the vendor.

As Comptroller, Scott is a faithful fiduciary to the 700,000 beneficiaries of the City’s pension fund assets, working to generate strong and consistent investment returns to meet liabilities while also managing risk and volatility in the pension funds’ investment portfolios, and limiting fees and costs to ensure the funds’ long-term sustainability.

As Comptroller, Scott seeks fair and efficient resolution of claims against the City and provide expeditious compensation to individuals with meritorious claims. Scott ensures the Office analyzes data to identify systemic risks, reform City government policies and practices, limit future claims and ultimately reduce costs for the City.

As Comptroller, Scott is responsible for scrutinizing the Mayor’s budget projections, reviewing the City’s budget, confirming the soundness of fiscal and economic assumptions and advising on potential developments affecting the City’s fiscal outlook. The Comptroller also sets for all City agencies a uniform system of accounting and reporting based on generally accepted accounting principles and prepares and publishes the City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).

In conjunction with the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, the Comptroller issues and sells all bonds to support the City’s capital needs. Scott rigorously monitors the City’s credit rating and debt levels and ensure sound refinancing methods to reduce costs for the City.

As Comptroller, Scott ensures transparent and empirically-based determinations of prevailing wage for workers on contracts for public work projects and enforcement of prevailing and living wage for all workers, including immigrant workers.

Through its membership on the NYC Banking Commission, the Comptroller manages the Banking Development District program, which leverages the City’s funds to promote community development and the availability of community banking services. Scott supports this work by collaborating with a variety of stakeholders to conduct public education regarding financial literacy.

The Comptroller also sits on the Franchise and Concession Review Committee (FCRC) and has a role in appointing representatives to the Independent Budget Office (IBO) advisory committee, Financial Information Services Agency (FISA), Office of Payroll Administration (OPA) and Procurement Policy Board (PPB).